This data is a companion to this paper: Johanna E Elsensohn, Scott Wolford, Amy Tabb, Tracy Leskey, “Experimental evidence supports the ability of spotted lanternfly to hitchhike on vehicle exteriors as a mechanism for anthropogenic dispersal,” 2024, Royal Society Open Science 11:240493. doi:10.1098/rsos.240493. Manually-measured data Experiments are detailed in the paper and data is contained in the table in this data release. Details of the data are available in the paper; we also summarize and define acronyms contained in the table here. Stage: insect life cycle stage. Values are 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th instars, early adult, and late adult. Location: location on the vehicle where the insect was placed for the experiment. Values, and their USA equivalents: - bonnet = hood. - nose wing = side panel. - scuttle panel = cowl panel. - wiper blade = wiper. - windscreen = windshield. Acclim.: means that the insect was allowed an acclimation period. 1 = yes there was an acclimation period, 0 = no there was not an acclimation period. Max RPM reached (0/1) : the insect remained attached to the vehicle at the maximum revolutions per minute (RPM) of the blower fan, 1850 RPM, equivalent to wind speed output was 100 ± 5 km/h 60cm from the housing exhaust. Max RPM reached: the maximum revolutions per minute (RPM) of the blower fan at which time the insect was detached from the vehicle. Windspeed (ft/min): conversion of insect detachment RPM (column 7) to feet/minute. Windspeed (KPH): conversion of insect detachment RPM (column 7) to windspeed in kilometers/hour. Body size: values are null (.), small (s), and (large). The body size is only assessed for the adult life stages; all instar stages have null. The adult is considered ‘small’ if the lateral yellow area on the insect’s underside was concave or flat and less than 2 mm wide. The insect was labelled ‘large’ if the lateral yellow area was ≥ 2 mm wide and convex. Sex (m/f): sex (male, female) was determined for the adult stages only. All of the instar stages have the value null (.).